According to the libertarian view, it shouldn’t matter all that much who happens to become the president, governor, or city council member because those politicians are granted only a limited amount of authority. Unfortunately, those limits have eroded, and now elected and appointed officials (especially during the coronavirus) grab as much authority as they can.

That has turned politics into an endless grudge match, given the stakes always seem so high. The rhetorical fervor has convinced many Americans that they must always be active in politics, lest their way of life and religious faith get cast onto the dustbin. Even before Donald Trump, progressives have portrayed every GOP victory as the harbinger of fascism.

Conservatives have done something similar in recent years. The author of the infamous “Flight 93” column published during the 2016 election argued that the race was the equivalent of that hijacked commercial airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania. Voters could charge the cockpit or die because a Hillary Clinton presidency would be “Russian Roulette with a semi-auto,” wrote Michael Anton.

Given these stakes—real or hyperbolic—we shouldn’t be surprised that increasing numbers of Americans view every election as a do-or-die situation.